By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – A 56-year-old Alabaster man will spend the next few years on probation after he pleaded guilty in late August to impersonating a sheriff’s deputy during a 2016 domestic incident call.

Albert Murdoch Jr., who lists an address on King Arthur Court in Alabaster, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of impersonating a public servant during an Aug. 31 hearing in front of Shelby County District Court Judge Daniel Crowson. Through a plea agreement with prosecutors, the charge was reduced from the original felony count of impersonating a peace officer, which could have carried a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Crowson sentenced Murdoch to 24 months of unsupervised probation.

The Alabaster Police Department arrested Murdoch on July 19, 2016, and charged him with one felony count of impersonating a peace officer.

Murdoch’s charge came after the Alabaster Police Department responded to a domestic incident call involving Murdoch.

When officers arrived on the scene and questioned Murdoch, he allegedly showed Alabaster officers a Marengo County Sheriff’s Office badge and ID card “to gain favor” during the incident.

“We were able to quickly determine he was not a deputy,” Alabaster Police Lt. Grant Humphries said at the time of Murdoch’s arrest, noting there were no injuries in the domestic incident.

Murdoch was released from the Shelby County Jail on July 22, 2016, after posting a $5,000 bond.